Crystal clear: Inside Nikon's Hikari Glass factory

Inside Nikon's Hikari Glass factory

Located about 375 miles north of Tokyo in the Akita Prefecture, the Hikari Glass factory is a special place. Opened back in the 1970s, Hikari Glass has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Nikon since 2004. If you shoot with Nikon lenses, the chances are good that they started life right here - as raw powdered glass.

The Akita Prefecture, home of Hikari Glass, lies around 375 miles north of Tokyo.

Nikon invited us to visit Hikari Glass following the CP+ 2018 show in Yokohama, and along with our friends Dave Etchells and William Brawley of Imaging Resource, we were among the first journalists ever allowed inside the facility. During our visit we saw virtually the entire process of glass-making, from raw powder to finished glass 'blanks', ready for shaping and polishing in Nikon's other facilities.

Click through this slideshow for a detailed look - please note that some areas of certain images are blurred at Nikon's request.

Thanks for reminding us there’s real value in the camera dollars we’re spending. It takes a lot of knowledge, experience, skill, time, materials, management, energy, dedication, patience, quality control, transport, marketing ... on and on ... to deliver the final product.

It is not only dust-free it turns precisely without wiggle room in the barrel of the lens super-structure with precision. And we see those sprinkles of glass out in the streets exposed to the elements. Glass made in gritty factory. Regardless if the grinding process is not made here the Nikon brand is sullied by this factory alone.

Really fascinating article, thanks! Its now quite clear (to me) why its so hard for a company like Nikon to increase lens production. A process like this is intense in terms of expert manual labour, and probably not so simple to fully automate.This makes me appreciate my Nikkor collection a whole lot more.

Very interesting and a lot that I did not know. However I remember back in the 1970s reading a lot about the development of laser holographic techniques to evaluate optical lenses along their development path so as to spot imperfections that the eye cannot see. The article was very detailed and said that holography could spot defects far smaller than any other technique and save the lens manufacturer a lot of cost since they did not have to wait until the final step to test the quality. The best part was that they could generate a hologram from a computer that represented total perfection and every lens would be compared to the perfect hologram. I would have expected that it would be common practice today - 40 years later.:)

Wow, fascinating article and pictures. I love these "how is it made" articles because so much of the time it comes down to the people and old processes that have been developed over many years of experience and learning and improvement. It's simply fascinating to see how it's done. Hopefully, next, we'll see the finishing process for the glass and it's implementation into the lenses, Nikkor or otherwise.

Worked on pure silica many years ago - made from silicon tetrachloride in a hydrogen-oxygen burner. Efforts to homogenize the high melting point glass were not perfect (electrolysis at 950 deg C). Was the quartz in this article derived from natural crystals or from fused silica, which would have been free of naturally occurring impurities like aluminum, sodium/lithium, etc ???

As far as I know (and I have a lot of experience in the industry), Tamron does not make optical glass. The four significant optical glass suppliers are Schott (German), Ohara and Hoya (Japanese), and CDGM (Chinese).

CDGM is the largest optical glass manufacturer in the world.

I do know of at least one Nikon lens (not glass, but rather the finished lens) that was manufactured for Nikon by Tamron. But only one that I know of.

Interesting! I remember back in the day when you'd buy a camera and they'd try to sell you store brand or other low rent glass for it, and the salesman would say "These are the same as the ones OEM'd to Nikon, it's just cheaper cuz it doesn't have Nikon's name on it.."

Unfortunately, camera stores, as a general breed, have always been awash in false rumors and nonsense "facts" (I started my working life in one and later had occasion to work with several hundred).

Of course there are unseen OEM relationships, but camera store salespeople have no way of knowing any details about such things, and approximately 97% of what they say about these matters is wrong, by my rough calculations.

There are a few places where lenses are made to exceedingly high standards. This one in the U.S. typically rejects 2 out of every 3 batches of optical glass due to inhomogeneousness (sp?). Probably Nikon does the same for glass used in its highest-end telephotos.http://www.astro-physics.com/about_us/about_us.htm

Great article. So much skilled work. It reminds us why very good optics are so expensive. Could the lens blanks for the cheap 18-55mm & 55-200mm Nikon kit lenses come from this factory? More probably from somewhere in China, no?

Small nit: Annealing is definitely not going to be used to remove bubbles as suggested in the article. During annealing, glass is not brought to a temperature at which it even begins to flow, let alone the molten state you'd need to melt out a bubble. (If the glass were allowed to flow, you'd be casting, not annealing it.)

The last stage of this process at which there's any chance of removing a bubble would be while casting ingots. Even when the glass is heated for the press, it'll be about the consistency of very thick honey. Any bubbles at this point aren't going anywhere.

@Barney, having worked extensively with Japanese companies, I disagree. They tend to stick with corporate traditions long after they provide a benefit.

The same sticking with it attitude can sometimes work to their advantage, but at other times it becomes a burden.

Twenty optical glass types may sound like a lot, but it pales next to Ohara's 130 and Schott's 120.

While making their own glass might appear to insulate them against external supply constraint factors, I suspect they still outsource supply of moldable glasses for aspheres. I don't see any evidence of them making the raw "ball lenses" that are used in the molding process for aspheric elements, unless that was in a different part of the building that wasn't shown to you.

Unless they mold their own aspheres (which I doubt, they probably buy from Hoya and AGC), it's going to be these elements that can impact their production capacity, and asphere supply is extremely tight right now.

However, I still question the business side of Nikon keeping this in house. Vertical integration can work well, up to the point of business disruption (as is happening today with cell phone cameras causing traditional camera sales to collapse).

Nikon will be disappointed to hear that you're surprised, Jon, since they've tried to market the fact that they manufacture their own glass for quite a long time—since around 1920, in fact. Nikon (then called Nippon Kogaku, KK) built the first significant optical glass factory in Japan; it was one of their first major tasks after the company was formed in 1917. Nikon famously imported some German engineers to teach them how.

That video is rather old, and shows some QA processes that I know are no longer in use. I've been to the Utsonomiya plant and I'm confident in my memory that glass blanks are sourced from outside of Canon. Not all of the glass, perhaps, but Canon isn't entirely vertically integrated. I could be completely wrong about that, and maybe I'm thinking of another manufacturer entirely, but I don't think so.

I don't think the "does Canon make its glass" question is very important—regardless of the answer, Canon is quite obviously capable of making superb lenses of all kinds.

But after several decades in and around the industry, my understanding is that Canon has historically manufactured its fluorite crystals and lens elements (they developed the technology for growing them for lenses), but bought most of the regular optical glass they use from outside suppliers.

FWIW, the video linked in this thread does not answer the question. It shows a glass manufacturing factory but does not state that this is a Canon factory. It could have been filmed in a supplier's facility. The structure of the narration is vague on this (and was not intended to answer that specific question anyway).

Again, I don't think this is a very important issue. Tons of truly superb lenses, and tons of cost-effective lenses, are made by manufacturers who buy their glass blanks from external suppliers.

The world's largest optical glass manufacturer is a Chinese company called CDGM Glass. Their list of customers includes Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, Leica, Fujinon, and even Hoya (which is one of the world's other largest optical glass manufacturers). The company's North American distributor shows a partial list of customers here:

Indeed. I thought this was pretty clear from the slideshow, but just in case:

The product that this factory produces is raw glass blanks. Those blanks are shipped to a lens factory where the high-precision shaping, polishing, coating, and assembly is done.

Most lens manufacturers, including many extremely high-precision firms, do not manufacture their raw glass blanks. They buy the blanks (like these produced by Nikon) from glass suppliers, such as Hoya, Schott, and others.

In other words, glass-making and lens-making are two different things.

I doubt it. I also doubt that he'd be able to shoot harshly-backlit action shots in Svalbard at a high frame rate while maintaining perfect focus with consistent exposure all the while with minimal flair and ghosting.

Ansel Adams used a 8×10 Deardorff and Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta B.Sorry, at his time this was a high-class gear. Ansel Adams used to be a very sophisticated Photographer, do you really think he made any compromises related to his gear beside size an portability?

Is it just me or is the slideshow not at all user friendly to navigate i.e. poorly designed.It fine when the blurb under the picture is small but when its long I end up having to scroll back up to click next. Also 29 pages slideshow is a bit too long don't you think?

(before someone mentions it, yes I know mobile site doesn't have slideshows. I am not going to change devices just to read one article!)

Indeed, DPReview slideshows are super easy to read when you view them from an RSS reader and can just scroll down one page with each image in-line followed by its blurb. (I guess this is what the mobile site does too.)

Viewed in a browser, the format is indeed pretty cumbersome to read and doesn't seem to offer any obvious advantage over the in-line version.

Latest in-depth reviews

After a rare Seattle snowstorm finally subsided, DPReview editor Jeff Keller was able to escape the snow and spend some time with the impressive Fujifilm X-T30, a camera that offers a lot of bang for the buck.

The EF-M 32mm F1.4 is a welcome addition to Canon's APS-C mirrorless lens lineup. It's a good performer all-around and enjoyable to use on the EOS M50, and we hope to see more like it introduced to the EF-M range.

We don't often get excited about $900 cameras, but the Fujifilm X-T30 has really impressed us thus far. Find out what's new, what it's like to use and how it compares to its peers in our review in progress.

The S1 and S1R are Panasonic's first full-frame mirrorless cameras so there's a plenty to talk about. We've taken a look at the design and features of both cameras and have some initial impressions, as well.

If you're looking for a high-quality camera, you don't need to spend a ton of cash, nor do you need to buy the latest and greatest new product on the market. In our latest buying guide we've selected some cameras that while they're a bit older, still offer a lot of bang for the buck.

What's the best camera for under $500? These entry level cameras should be easy to use, offer good image quality and easily connect with a smartphone for sharing. In this buying guide we've rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing less than $500 and recommended the best.

Whether you've grown tired of what came with your DSLR, or want to start photographing different subjects, a new lens is probably in order. We've selected our favorite lenses for Sony mirrorlses cameras in several categories to make your decisions easier.

Ross Lowell was a man of many talents who had more than 25 patents to his name, created a lighting company and created gaffer tape, a staple in the camera bags of photographers and cinematographers the world over.

Ricoh's new WG-6 is the company's latest waterproof camera, with a 20MP sensor, 28-140mm equiv. lens and the ability to go 20m/65ft underwater. If you need something that's both crushproof and chemical-resistant, there's the G900, which is designed for industrial use.

At its Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy S10 and S10+ with a triple rear-camera array, as well as a more basic S10e model with a dual main camera unit. As expected, the S10 series' display is the center of attention with a hole-punch style front-facing camera embedded in the screen.

Samsung wasted no time unveiling the Galaxy Fold at its Unpacked event today – a foldable device with a 4.6" display when folded, and 7.3" display when unfolded. The device contains a total of six cameras – three on the back, two inside and one front-facing camera.

After a rare Seattle snowstorm finally subsided, DPReview editor Jeff Keller was able to escape the snow and spend some time with the impressive Fujifilm X-T30, a camera that offers a lot of bang for the buck.

Given that it uses the same sensor and processor as the X-T3, it's no surprise that the Fujifilm X-T30 is capable of producing some excellent photos. We took a pre-production X-T30 all over the Seattle area and have plenty of photos for your viewing pleasure.

Tamron has announced three new full-frame lenses slated to launch in the middle of 2019: an SP 35mm F1.4 Di USD and 35-150mm F2.8-4 Di VC OSD for DSLRs, as well as an ultra-wide 17-28mm F2.8 Di III RXD for Sony E-mount cameras.

The EF-M 32mm F1.4 is a welcome addition to Canon's APS-C mirrorless lens lineup. It's a good performer all-around and enjoyable to use on the EOS M50, and we hope to see more like it introduced to the EF-M range.

Panasonic is well known for including impressive video features on its cameras. In this article, professional cinematographer Jack Lam explains one killer feature the company could add to its S series that would shake up the industry – and it all comes down to manual focus.

Full-frame cameras get a lot of attention lately, but Technical Editor Richard Butler thinks that APS-C makes the most sense for a lot of people – and there's just one company consistently giving the format the support it deserves.